Apple Updates Leadership Page to Include New AI Chief John Giannandrea

Apple today updated its Apple Leadership page to include John Giannandrea, who now serves as Apple's Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Apple hired Giannandrea back in April, stealing him away from Google where he ran the search and artificial intelligence unit.

appleaichief
Giannandrea is leading Apple's AI and machine learning teams, reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. He has taken over leadership of Siri, which was previously overseen by software engineering chief Craig Federighi.

Apple told TechCrunch that it is combining its Core ML and Siri teams under Giannandrea. The structure of the two teams will remain intact, but both will now answer to Giannandrea.

Under his leadership, Apple will continue to build its AI/ML teams, says TechCrunch, focusing on general computation in the cloud alongside data-sensitive on-device computations.

Giannandrea spent eight years at Google before joining Apple, and before that, he founded Tellme Networks and Metaweb Technologies.

Apple's hiring of Giannandrea in April came amid ongoing criticism of Siri, which many have claimed has serious shortcomings in comparison to AI offerings from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google due to Apple's focus on privacy.


In 2018, Apple is improving Siri through a new Siri Shortcuts feature that's coming in iOS 12, which is designed to let users create multi-step tasks using both first and third-party apps that can be activated through Siri.

Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
75 months ago
Seems like these one off hirings are a publicity stunt to appease shareholders rather than to actually improve Siri because not much if any has changed...

https://www.reddit.com/r/SiriFail/
Or, you know, you could give the guy more than three freaking months to massively overhaul one of the original AI assistants with one of the largest install bases in the world. Siri shortcuts and integration into third party apps is already one of the biggest leaps forward that I can remember and that's shipping in September. Sure Siri isn't great but give the guy a break. Honestly.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimmeyCook Avatar
75 months ago
Seems like these one off hirings are a publicity stunt to appease shareholders rather than to actually improve Siri because not much if any has changed...

https://www.reddit.com/r/SiriFail/
Yes, let’s pretend that Google’s and other competitors things aren’t worse if not equally terrible...

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mi7chy Avatar
75 months ago
Seems like these one off hirings are a publicity stunt to appease shareholders rather than to actually improve Siri because not much if any has changed...

https://www.reddit.com/r/SiriFail/
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H3LL5P4WN Avatar
75 months ago
Every time I try to mentally pronounce his name, I come up with:

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
75 months ago
Shortcomings due to Apple's focus on privacy?

Or shortcomings because they thought they knew what users would want to use Siri for, never expecting a) a competitor would release a product that b) went so far beyond in capabilities that Siri was designed to do...

and now Apple is scrambling (still) to catch up.
Show me one piece of data that indicates any shortcomings in Siri affects Apple's sales or overall strategy.

There is a lot of conjecture that voice assistant superiority means something, but show me the data. I really don't think Apple cares much about what Google Assistant does that incremental to Siri, because it's just not all that useful from a day to day perspective or even that evident to the average user.

Now show me evidence that Apple isn't making huge strides in AI that could be unleashed when it does become important.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DNichter Avatar
75 months ago
This is good. I am happy with the hire as obviously Google has some smart people, but he will be building services and features that respect their users' privacy and won't be centered around data mining and advertising. I'd think this would be more appealing.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New App Store Delta Game Emulator

Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...